Shawl knitting in da Pinas

I have a feeling I already mentioned this in my knitting blog elsewhere.... but anyway, it's been a major challenge for me to look for shawl patterns online that do not involve lace knitting, since i've decided that lace is not my major passion as far as knitting is concerned.

Much of the shawl patterns online are designed either for "heirloom" show-off lace pieces, to be worn on formal occasions such as weddings, or for warming the body like a huge blanket. I suspect that no knitter living in a tropical climate, like me, has ever posted a non-lace shawl pattern online. Just a suspicion.

So I've had to make my own patterns in which I come up with triangular shawls that can be used on cool summer nights, or when one has to go out into a hot sunny day and beat the heat inside an airconditioned refuge. When i finally finish one such shawl I'll write up the pattern and post it online, although I doubt if there are many takers for such patterns :-)

For now, I'm being mindful of Saturn Retro making me seek closure in creative projects I've long wanted to do (technical details: natal Saturn in 5th House of Creativity, retro in 11th House of Hopes and Wishes). This means setting aside my plans for knitting tropical shawls for Bora, except... for me! I had long wanted to knit myself a shawl, though I do have one already using Laines du Nord's Zahir--in fact, to use up my remaining yarn, i'm making another one, rectangular this time, in seed stitch.

But I have no shawl yet in tencel yarn, so that's what I'm doing. Tencel or lyocell is like rayon, made from tree cellulose, and is absorbent like cotton but soft as silk. I'm planning to knit myself at least 2 triangular shawls in tencel, one in black and the other in red.

13th Rib Scarf

Basically, much as I love moss stitch, I wanted something to break the monotony.

And so, I decided to do something different with the 13th row. To explain the pattern name, it means the 13th row is a rib stitch, where the previous row's knit stitches are purled, and the purls are knitted.

Cast on an even number of stitches.



Version 1, British Moss Stitch (aka Seed Stitch):

Row 1: Knit 1, Purl 1
Row 2: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for Rows 3 to 12:
Rows 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 -- as Row 1
Rows 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12-- as Row 2

Row 13: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeats Rows 1 to 13 until desired length:

Rows 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 -- as Row 1
Rows 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25 -- as Row 2
Row 26: As Row 13

And so on

Sorry, for now this is my only available pic of a 13th rib scarf pattern, using Filati FF Sailor cotton yarn, Po River colorway. Notice the slight stripe effect of the 13th row.

I'll take more and better pics of the other scarves in this pattern.






Version 2, American Moss Stitch (aka Double Moss Stitch):

Rows 1 and 2: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 3 and 4: Purl 1, Knit 1
Rows 5 and 6: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 7 and 8: Purl 1, Knit 1
Rows 9 and 10: Knit 1, Purl 1
Rows 11 and 12: Purl 1, Knit 1

Row 13: Purl 1, Knit 1

Repeat Rows 1 to 13 until desired length.

Version 2's striping is subtle too and this pattern works best with solid yarns... I think. Haven't tried it with variegated yarns.


Here's a link about the 2 types of Moss Stitch.